Chapter 44
“Wow. The Namgung family’s carriage is really nice. The seats are so soft! Heh heh.”
Jegal Haesu was joking as if he’d never coughed up blood at all.
Soso thought, silently, that the problem was he looked far too healthy.
“Young Mr. Namgung, do you always ride in a carriage like this?”
“I usually travel by lightness skill, so I rarely need a carriage.”
“Tsk tsk. You have a fine carriage and don’t use it — you don’t know the value of a thing.”
“Then why do you keep speaking so casually to me?”
“We decided to travel together; doesn’t that mean you accepted me as your older brother? If you’re offended, you can speak informally back.”
“I’m not going to call you ‘hyung’ (older brother).”
“Nyeh, nyeh.”
How could those two young masters get along so well?
Soso sat facing them and watched, amazed, as the two men kept needling each other.
The carriage Soso and the two men rode in had been provided by the Namgung family.
Was it because of Jegal Haesu suddenly coughing blood with such a serious look that they managed to get it easily?
Jegal Haesu had quietly insisted that his condition worsened because of Mihonhyang, and he extracted not only the carriage but even enough travel money from Namgung Seonyul.
When Soso was alone with Jegal Haesu, she quietly asked him.
“You coughed up blood on purpose, right?”
“Yeah. I know exactly which acupoint makes one bleed.”
“Did it really have to go that far?”
“Sama, we could’ve lost our lives at the Namgung estate. If you think about it, weren’t we dragged into their deep-rooted troubles?”
“…….”
“We got paid cheaply for our lives.”
Hearing that, Soso could somewhat understand why Jegal Haesu had wrung money from the Namgung family.
She could only nod.
Then Jegal Haesu confessed why they’d been able to get more money.
“But Lord Gajoo’s eye for detail is remarkable. He knew everything and yet still handed me a fat travel stipend.”
“Was it really payment for our lives?”
“Not only payment for our lives, but also payment for silence.”
“For silence?”
Jegal Haesu told Soso what Namgung Seonyul had quietly asked of him.
“Lord Namgung Hyuk’s connection to the Demon Sect — he asked that it be kept secret until death.”
Soso simply nodded again.
Even without payment, she would have kept Namgung Hyuk’s matter secret.
She had a secret she wanted Namgung Seonyul and Seollin to protect as well.
Before leaving the Namgung estate, Soso herself had asked Seollin to keep quiet about the fact that her body changes into the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Tree.
Although Namgung Seonyul hadn’t seen her transformed into the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Tree, Seollin and Namgung Jin knew, so it was likely the story had reached his ears.
Seollin had asked her to trust him.
Of course Soso trusted Seollin, but who could tell how other people’s hearts might change?
‘That’s why it’s better for us to hold onto each other’s secrets.’
As long as Soso didn’t reveal Namgung Hyuk’s story, they would probably keep her secret faithfully.
Soso’s thoughts were broken by Namgung Jin’s voice.
“Miss Baek, if there is anything uncomfortable, please tell me at any time. Let us take a short rest. This carriage is not for Jegal sohyup but for Miss Baek.”
“Ha ha, yes.”
“And there is something I’d like to ask.”
“For me?”
“For the two of you.”
Namgung Jin spoke slowly, hesitating.
“My father asked that you keep silent about Lord Namgung Hyuk.”
Jegal Haesu had already been asked that same thing while collecting money from Namgung Seonyul.
Soso and Jegal Haesu both nodded readily. There was nothing more to say on that matter.
Soso decided to ask the question that had been on her mind the whole time.
“Oh, by the way, Young Mr. Namgung. What exactly is the ‘Golden-Doctoress’?”
She’d thought only Namgung Jin mentioned the Golden-Doctoress, but it turned out the Namgung family people also knew of her.
Soso had the impression that someone like her — a woman who healed with a golden aura — had existed before.
“Do you know, Jegal sohyup?”
Jegal Haesu shook his head.
“It’s not something I really know.”
“Hmm… the Golden-Doctoress. The stories about her are quietly passed down within our Namgung family and a few other houses.”
“I see.”
“And fifty years ago, she was connected to We Ja-gang, the Heavenly Demon who tried to swallow the world.”
“……!”
We Ja-gang, who had been a Heavenly Demon fifty years ago.
A man who nearly ruled the world but was killed by the Soul-Chasing Sword, Cheon Yoo-jin.
Just that name seemed to fill the carriage with tension.
“It is widely known that We Ja-gang and Cheon Yoo-jin were close friends and both came from the same Jongnam school.”
“That’s right.”
Jegal Haesu chimed in.
But unfortunately, Soso didn’t know the story of the Heavenly Demon at all.
She had lived in the very peaceful era after the Heavenly Demon’s death and had only worried about making a living.
She was different from Jegal Haesu and Namgung Jin, who were born into martial families and had grown up hearing many war tales.
“But few people know that a woman called the ‘Golden-Doctoress’ was involved between those two men.”
“Why is that?”
“Because the people who actually fought the Heavenly Demon denied her existence.”
Namgung Jin looked out the carriage window and sighed softly.
“It will take a while to get from Anhui Province to Hubei, so let me tell you an old story.”
Soso listened closely to Namgung Jin’s voice.
Cheon Yoo-jin and We Ja-gang.
They had been bosom friends and so skilled that they rivaled each other for the head disciple position of the Jongnam school.
Though their personalities were opposites, they were very close.
Cheon Yoo-jin’s temperament was gentle like water; We Ja-gang’s was hot like fire.
We Ja-gang would get riled up over small things and often start fights with other disciples.
Cheon Yoo-jin often mediated those fights.
We Ja-gang obeyed only Cheon Yoo-jin’s words. Cheon Yoo-jin, in turn, cared for We Ja-gang like a younger brother.
The two of them were friendly and competed in good faith, but… at some point their relationship soured.
It began when We Ja-gang became unable to beat Cheon Yoo-jin even once.
We Ja-gang was talented, but Cheon Yoo-jin surpassed natural talent to become an extraordinary genius — someone you could call once-in-a-century.
What We Ja-gang could achieve after a hundred days, Cheon Yoo-jin could accomplish in a single day.
The more We Ja-gang lost to Cheon Yoo-jin in matches, the more unbearable his humiliation became.
He liked Cheon Yoo-jin as a friend, but his desire grew to never lose to him again.
On some days when he was soundly defeated, he even thought of killing Cheon Yoo-jin.
When he constantly heard comparisons between himself and Cheon Yoo-jin, murderous intent to kill everyone surged within him.
“If We Ja-gang ever beats Cheon Yoo-jin, I’ll donate all my possessions to Jongnam.”
“Hahaha! I want to bet that We Ja-gang could never win. Who will bet on him?”
“Hoho! No one! There’s no one at all.”
Hearing that, he trained like a madman but still could not surpass Cheon Yoo-jin.
Life felt so futile.
One drunken night, when We Ja-gang was sinking into despair, a man appeared who would change his fate.
It was an old, eerie white-haired man We Ja-gang chanced upon at an inn. He appeared suddenly and displayed an astonishing sword dance.
We Ja-gang was captivated by that fierce, brutal swordsmanship.
If he learned that ruthless blade, might he be able to beat Cheon Yoo-jin?
